Gaskell Classic

The Features on my gaskell classic are the same as gibsons explorer (as far as i know) Volume, tone, tone and a pick-up selector. I got the guitar recently from new and im really happy with it. its a great guitar and will do all that you need it to! plays as good as any epiphpone ive encountered if not better (ive never played a lefty gibson that i can remember!)

I play grunge/rock and this guitar does it very well. i havnt replaced anything on this guitar and it sounds great. Ive played alot of fenders (Jaguars and Mustangs) and ive had to do alot of work, its nice to get a guitar that already sounds great . Like its gibson forefathers - It'll sound sweet for all your rock / blues / metal needs, and alot more besides.

I got this guitar shipped halfway across the world and it was still in tune! i havent had to fiddle with anything on this guitar, it was all set up for me. great! When i bought a new jaguar from fender japan it was a real mess - the classic has been great! no complaints from me.

I have waited to submit this review by a few days till id gigged the guitar and im happy to report that it was a great instrument to play live. The weighting was fantastic and it felt like i had been playing it for years. This will be in my permanent line up of guitars. stayed in tune fantastically for a new guitar as well!

The company are fantastic - friendly, helpful and not expensive (boutique guitars cheaper than gibsons). I think the lefty loving ethos is just what was missing from the market. I look forward to using gaskell for all my guitar needs in the future. Great job Kevin!

This is a great guitar - affordable, quality and most of all individual (not an easy quality to find if your a lefty, its always strats and les pauls in the shops). Ive been playing for 10 years and have been through a few instruments, this one suits me down the ground for where im at at the moment. If anything were to happen to this guitar, i would be on the phone to gaskell for a replacement. It sounds great through my orange rocker 30 and goes great with everything its been played with. I feel lucky to have gotten a gaskell before they become huge!

Gaskell classic (explorer shape), in black, with hard case. Check the website for specs.

Purchased the guitar solely for body shape. Pots and pick-ups were all replaced (upgraded) within first few weeks of owning guitar. Original pots were a little noisy, and the original pick-ups fed back when amp on high gain (overdrive). Marshall AVT275 amp. Replaced original pots with Gibson USA pots, and replaced original pick-ups with EMG-HZ pick-ups. Now sounds like a real hard rock gat should.

Guitar has very nice finish. Was not "set-up" (at my request, as I knew I was going to make changes to it). Being limited in what is available in left hand gats locally. I would say that this would now be my number 1 gat (after mods done). Nice enough hard case as well (though I might refit foam inner for added piece of mind).

Intend on using this gat next to fulltime. Would not hesitate (and have already) gigging with it. Gets other muso's doing a second take, saying, "is that a.......?" Nicely balanced, and nice playability. Other than the mods I was going to make to it anyways, a 10 out of 10. I might cahnge tuners at a later date (due to personal preference), but nothing wrong with originals, stays in tune just fine.

Company are great to deal with. No messing around and very helpful and responsive to questions / enquiries etc. Comes with 12 mth warranty, that I understand may now be void in my case, due to the mods that I have made to the gat, but I am comfortable in the fact that I do not believe that the gat will give me any grief, if I continue treating it, like a decent gat should be treated.

I've been playing for about 6 - 7 yrs now. Hard rock is where it's at. This guitar bought purely for the "look" and feel of the explorer shape. I bought it with full intention of replacing pick-ups etc. The price was great for what I believe I got. No gripes here. After making the mods I have, in my opinion thi gat is the s@#t !, and will be one of the few that I believe I will not on sell for any reason. Would not hesitate to deal with Gaskell guitars in the future, regards finding a decent lefty again (despite my desire to make my own personal mods to any gat whenever I feel the need). All the best for the future to Kevin and his team, and I hope you guys DO conquer the world market with your product(s).

I bought the classic lefthanded explorer in white color. It includes a hard case.
The size of the guitar is like a gibson explorer pro, not to heavy, not to light, just perfect. It's a bonus that al the colors (even white) are the same price.
At Gibson you would have to pay 10% more because it is lefthanded, and also when you want a white one it will cost approx 200??? more than any other color. So the cost of the freight is not that bad, because you'll have to pay it at any brand.

I play hardrock and rock with it.
I did change the strings by 011-046, because I like that sound, it is warmer and harder.
I'm using 2 marshall stacks and a Boss GT6, and it sounds great.

The action was a little low so I put it a little higher, but that's my personal feeling. The intonation is perfect. I also put the pickups a bit higher adjust to the action. The guitar has a better sustain.
The finish is beautyfull white with a black headstock with the brandname in gold. I'm very happy with it.

she stays in tune just fine.
The finish is very good.

I've dealt with the company in Sydney, Kevin and Virginia, and they were very helpfull and friendly and honest. Really fine people to deal with.
Personal thanks to Kevin and Virginia for making the dream come true for many lefthanded guitar players. Keep going on like this.

I play approx 25 years, and I have 3 american stratocasters and a lefthanded Gibson flying V.
I'm very proud to have my gaskell explorer in this collection now, the sound is nearly as good as my Gibson Flying V, but that's normal because Fender has single coil pickups and you can not compare them with it. So if I would loose it I will definately buy another one.
I will shurely promote this guitar here in Belgium and hope there will come a dealer here in Belgium.
The shipping was very good with tnt express, the case was very good packed up so there was no dammage when she arrived here. It was also very fast, she left the 19 of march in Sydney and she arrived the 21 of march in Belgium delivered door to door.

I ordered the Classic with the natural finish, it has a set neck with 22 frets, and overall size it is smaller than the original Explorer. It also came with a hardshell case, nothing out of the ordinary, but definitely sufficient. The guitar is light and easy to manage. Personally, I've never even held an Explorer due to Gibson not producing these anymore, so I actually got the guitar simply because it was shaped like an Explorer and because it was lefty.

I'll start off by saying it's got plenty of sustain! I did replace the original strings as soon as I got the guitar, not because I found a problem with them, but simply I like to know exactly what's on the guitar. I actually didn't use the factory strings long enough to know if they were any good. The pickups are imports, Korean I think, and actually aren't too bad so there's no real urgency to upgrade but I think down the road I'd like to try a set of the same USA Gibson humbuckers used on the Gibson Explorers.

I did adjust the action a bit after receiving the guitar but I can't actually say this would be a complaint, more like a matter of user preference. The overall finish on the guitar is beautiful, it most definitely does not look like an import. I scoured the entire guitar in my search for something to complain about and I just couldn't find anything. If I could stress anything in this review it would be the professional finish, I am very pleased.

Although I have yet to play out with the Gaskell, I've been putting it to the test at home. Stays in tune just fine, and it seems solid and feels very comfortable. I will not hestitate to play out with it, and I actually look forward to playing out with it because it's an eyecatching guitar.

Other than making the original purchase (which went very smoothly considering it was on the other side of the world) I haven't had any need to contact customer service.

If you are in the market for a left hand Explorer style guitar and you are getting tired of waiting for Gibson this is definitely an option. I am pleased with my purchase. I did have to pay quite a bit of freight to have it shipped to the USA but I still feel it was a good investment. Their website offers a few different color choices and there's also a more expensive pro version with Dimarzio pickups (and I believe you can specify your color on that one). Left hand guitar players don't normally get much respect in the world of guitars so I think this is pretty cool that this company is manufacturing left hand models that we don't normally can't buy. I am enjoying the guitar enough that I took the time to come here and share my experience and I would personally recommend the guitar to fellow lefty's.

Left hand Gibson Explorer copy but a little smaller in size. Nothing to compare it to in left hand. Came with a hard case. Bonus!

Sounds like a Les Paul. Good loud. Same controls as Les Paul. Set neck so tons of sustain. Great for Gary Moore style of lead.

Action was good. Set up done by a pro. No complaints.

Seems pretty strong. The wood is good. Not sure how long the hardware will last. Can't tell.

1 year warranty. I heard about them thru a mate. Nice people. Seem to really care about left hand guitarists.

Been playing 25 years. This is an inexpensive guitar and for the price it is extremely good value. Better than other lefties in same price range except may be Ibanez. Way better than the Chinese Gibsons.

This is a left handed custom Explorer shape guitar. black satin finish -very beautiful. Tun-o-matic bridge. Set neck. Maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Came with a hard case (locking) specially made for this guitar. Made 2007. Says Australian-designed, Chinese-manufactured. Korean electronics. 22 frets. Basswood body. Proper wood. 2 x humbuckers, made in Korea. I don't know what other features it could come with. It's all there.

I play hard rock. I bought it mainly because it's a rare shape but because it is same configuration as a Les Paul. Using a Fender Princeton 65 DSP. No pedals. It's very warm sound. Lot of mid. Factory strings pretty mediocre. With a set of D'Addarios sounds pretty awesome. It has the same sound range as a Les Paul. Sounds a bit different from Les Paul because of basswood body but very appropriate for overdriven ballsy rock. Sounds good funky too on front humbucker.

The action was GREAT! I like it a little higher than what a dedicated lead guitarist would prefer and it came out of the box good for me. The action is not "high" The pickup adjustments were pretty good. Back pickup perfect. Front could have come up a bit, but not really important. That's matter of taste. The finis is nice. So black it is lke a mirror. There was a bit of a ding in the case where it must have been damaged slightly in transport. Not noticeable, not bad enough to warrant complaining for no reason. All the workings of the guitar are great.I give his a 9 for the ding in the case.

I've used this guitar for recording so far at decent volumes and it handles real good. No "noises" like cheap guitars. When I first played it I got a bit of black on my fingers and I think that might have come from the fret board. Haven't noticed any difference to the fret board. Seems to have stopped now. Truly a NEW and unplayed guitar! I think I could depend on it. I wouldn't want to drop it as it has a set neck.

Gaskell Guitars come with a 1 year warranty. Easy to deal with. New company so still getting the name out there.

Been playing 20+ years. I am a session musician. I use a lot of gear, not always my own. I would say overall, this guitar is definitely a professional quality guitar suitable for pros. Damned good value for $1175 WITH A HARD CASE. I love the look of it. Explorer's were never made in left hand. In 20 years I never seen a left hand Explorer. I thought this guitar might have just been for novelty but after playing it and using it, I can say it definitely is a serious, high-end, pro guitar. I suspect probably a good deal of the manufacturing process would have been by hand since factories don't have mass production for left hand guitars and for a left hand Explorer ? They've never been made till now.

Gaskell Guitars only makes left hand guitars. They are an Australian company. Some bloke in Sydney started this out of frustration over the lack of left hand guitars on the market and has set it up to sell guitar models you can't get in Left hand elsewhere. The guitar I got is a slightly smaller bodied Gibson Explorer copy which Gibson/Epiphone don't make in left hand anyway. This one is natural finish, body made out of basswood, neck is maple, fretboard rosewood. I has a set neck. It has the tun-o-matic bridge like the Les Paul/Explorer/SG guitars by Gibson/Epiphone and Schaller-copy tuners. It came with a guitar lead but no case. I believe the company is now selling it with a hard case. Makes sense since you can't buy a hard case or a soft case for that matter for this guitar! The guitar is designed in Australia and made in China but the pickups are Korean-made. It has one master volume and 2 tones, not like the Explorer, but like a Les Paul. The finish is beautiful. This is a high-end guitar, not a cheapie. It is very well made. The only thing that could have been changed is the nut which is plastic. I believe the Gibson nuts are made of better material.

The pick ups are very fat sounding. The set neck gives the guitar incredible sustain. I play rock and blues and try a little jazz. It is the best left handed guitar I have ever played for sound for these styles. It puts my Epiphone Les Paul utterly to shame. The guitar comes with 10s for strings which are a bit heavy for me but the 10's makes rythym playing very chunky, full. The basswood body gives it a lot of mids. I have to cut the bass control on my amp back to get the sound I like. The pickups are quiet and when cranked up the guitar is very grunty. I need the tone control almost full treble to counteract the mid/bass prominence. Up high it sounds very sweet. It is perfect for lead, whether clean or with a nice overdrive/distortion. I dont think this guitar is for strummers. It is for players who PLAY guitar. I don't need to sweeten it up with pedals. Just use reverb and clean or reverb + built-in overdrive of the amp. I play it live this way. Sound is that good

Set up from factory was ok but not perfect. Nut was a little low. Other than that everything else really good. No problem to the technician in the music shop who I got to set it up. He told me it was an excellently made guitar and better than a lot of other "brand name" guitars LH or RH. He said it was incredible good value for the price. Told me definitely a pro quality guitar witha mean sound.

Will this guitar withstand live playin? ABSOLUTELY. I have put it to the test. It blows people away.
Hardware is very sturdy. I have only had this guitar a few months but it looks to be good to last a while.
The finish is incredible. I took it to a woodworker in Sydney and asked how much would it cost in Australia to get the same quality finish and he told me no less than $500 to get the same finish. That's half the value of the guitar.
Would I use it on a gig without a back up guitar? I would never play a gig without a back up guitar no matter what. Break a string? Any serious musician always has more than one guitar for a gig. If I could get another one I would have this same model guitar as a backup.

It has a one year warranty. Warranty is pretty standard. I haven't had any need to complain or any problems with the guitar so won't be in touch with the company until I need another one of these guitars or another one of his guitars.

I have been playing 10+ years. I have other left hand guitars and none of them truthfully are as good as this one for my style.
If it was lost or stolen I would be super mad. I would get another one. There is no one else who makes these in left hand that I know if anyway so I would have to get a Gaskell again. Once these really take off I hope he doesn't put up the price too much.
My other leftys are Ibanez RG (good guitar!) Epiphone Les Paul Studio, A made-in-China Strat copy which is a total piece of crap, A Fender Pro 65 amp, and a Zoom pedal. For the price this guitar is awesome value. It sounds and plays as good as a $5000-$6000 Les Paul.